Chapter 15 – Duel

       The practical test progressed steadily, and after waiting for around two hours, Ninsan"s turn finally came. Erinsensei who would be our supervisor in this test, opened the door of the third arena. The name of Ninsan and Noire-san were called from the top of the stairs.

“Th-Then, I"m going!” (Nina)

“Yeah. Good luck!” (Ash)

       I cheered on Ninsan who was trembling in tension. Unlike Ninsan who was so tense, Noire-san entered the door with a cool face.

Because the students who have finished their test leave the arena through the back door regardless of winning or losing, I will meet Ninsan again in the cla.s.sroom. At that time, it would be nice if I could hear a good news from her.

“Hmm… so our turn comes after Noir-chan"s. I don"t like it!” (Felmina)

“Why is that!?” (Ash)

“You will find out soon enough. For now, it"s better to prepare yourself!” (Felmina)

       Felminsan said something that seemed to have a deep meaning.

What does she mean…?

       The door of the third arena opened when I was still wondering about the meaning of her words.

"Next is…. number 15…. Enter…!" (Erina)

It"s already over!? You must be kidding me!?

Not even a minute pa.s.sed since they entered the arena, but…. are the differences in their ability that huge?

Erinsensei also seems to be shivering. I wonder what happened in the arena.

       I found the answer of that question immediately after I entered the arena.

◆

“What the heck…!?” (Ash)

       The arena has turned into an ice world. The wall frosted, various size of icicles hung on the ceiling, and a huge ice ma.s.s towered the center of the arena.

“Noire-chan specializes in ice element magic after all. Don"t you think it"s really cold here?” (Felmina)

       Felminsan rubbed her palms together to get some warmth for her shivering body.

“Nope.” (Ash)

I was surprised that the arena has turned into an ice world, but that"s it. I don"t feel cold at all.

“Hahahaha. Don"t be shy! There"s no way it"s not cold.” (Felmina)

That might be true for a normal people, but not for me.

As the result of harsh training under the guidance of Master, my body has become really strong against heat or cold temperature.

The temperature inside this arena might actually be below the freezing point, but for my body, it"s just a pleasant cool.

“Oh well, I"m going to warm you up right away anyway!” (Felmina)

       Felminsan carefully descended the slippery stairs so that she wouldn"t slip and fall. Before long, we both arrived to our destination.

       On the arena, I and Felminsan took a distance of about five meters from each other, and stood face to face. There were ice blocks all over the place, and an ice wall was standing behind Felminsan.

       Felminsan was holding a magic wand about 30 cm long in her hand.

How nice to have a magic wand. I have never had one until this day….

“I will explain the rules!” (Erina)

       When I was admiring Felminsan"s magic wand, Erinsensei"s voice echoed in the arena.

“Just as you all know, there"s special barrier protecting this arena! There will be no physical damage from the attacks you received! Then again, you will still feel the pain! The one who lost consciousness first, loses! Let"s finish this duel fast and take a warm bath! Well then…. Starts!” (Erina)

       Immediately, Felminsan swung around her magic wand like a conductor, to draw a rune in the air. With a sophisticated and refined movement, the rune was completed in no time and a huge fireball appeared above her head.

My dynamic vision is above the average. I knew Felminsan was drawing a rune to cast a Fireball spell even before she finished it. However, the fireball that Felminsan produced is totally different from the fireball that I knew.

In the textbook, it"s written that the diameter of fireball is around one meter. However, the diameter of fireball floating near the ceiling is more than five meters.

The power of magic depends on one"s magical power. Just by looking at that fireball, I understand that Felminsan"s magical power is extraordinary.

“Like I said before, I"m going to warm you up right away!” (Felmina)

       The moment Felminsan pointed her magic wand at me, the giant fireball also flew towards my direction. I took a deep breath and then blew it out at once. The giant fireball in front of me disappeared in an instant.

I feel like being the wolf from [The Three Little Pigs] story, right now.

“Eh!?” (Felmina)

       While still pointing her magic wand at me, Felminsan"s body turned stiff for a few second. Her head seemed unable to keep up with the unexpected event.

“Wh-What kind of magic did you use just now!? Or rather, where is your magic wand!? No way, did you draw the rune in your head!?” (Felmina)

“No, that was…. I extinguished it with my breath.” (Ash)

“No human can do such a thing!? I can"t believe it…. You"re able to cast magic without a magic wand….” (Felmina)

       It was unprecedented to draw a rune in your head, but for Felminsan"s common sense, it seemed that answer was far more realistic than mine.

“You can interpret it as you like!” (Ash)

       Having said that, I launched a fist strike. There was a distance of fifteen meters between us, so of course my fist wouldn"t reach her. However, the range of wind pressure produced by my first strike was more than 15 kilometers.

*baaaaaaaaaammmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!!*

       The ice wall behind Felminsan exploded not long after I released my fist strike. The fist-sized ice fragments splattered like a shotgun.

       Not only destroyed the ice wall, the wind pressure produced from my fist strike also opened a hole on the arena wall that made of unbreakable material.

“Eh!?” (Felmina)

       Seeing the hole, Felminsan leaked out a funny voice. Though panic, she received no damage from that attack. The aim of my attack went off because my foot slipped after all.

“Th-That spell…. what is the name of the spell you just used…!?” (Felmina)

“That was just a fist strike (punch).” (Ash)

“Fist Strike? I"ve never heard of that spell. It seems like I still have a lot to learn.” (Felmina)

       Once more, Felminsan seemed to have misunderstood my words.

Oh well, if I"m in her position, I also won"t believe an explanation such as "that was just a wind pressure from my punch", after seeing such a misery.

“I"m a little confused because I see a lot of new things today. However, I now understand that Ash-kun is strong! You deflected my attack from before, but next…. I will definitely defeat you with my special attack! If you don"t like it, you should get serious too!” (Felmina)

       Felminsan started drawing a rune agian.

No matter how great a wizard is, as long as it"s a wizard, he/she will be vulnerable while drawing a rune.

It is easy to defeat Felminsan in the current state. However, we have made a promise to make it a duel free of regrets. If I defeat her before she can use her special attack, there will be regret left after the duel ends.

Besides, I would like to see the “special attack” of one of the best student in the advanced cla.s.s — Felminsan.

I will defeat Felminsan after she uses her special attack. That way, it will become a duel free of regrets.

“No one was able to stand after receiving my special attack. Come forth — Flame Devil 《Ifrit》!!!” (Felmina)

       Pop! — a small fireball popped out from Felminsan"s magic wand. That fireball kept expanding, and in the blink of an eye, it transformed into a bipedal beast-like figure five meters high. What Felminsan summoned looked exactly like “the devil of fire”.

The complexity of the rune is a given. This is one of the top cla.s.s fire element magic that requires tremendous magical power to cast — Flame Devil 《Ifrit》.

Even though she is only a student, Felminsan is able use a spell that can be called the pinnacle of fire element magic. I wonder how much effort has been spent to master it.

       Looking at the huge figure of flame monster before me, I couldn"t help but having such thoughts. In the other side of the blazing flame, Felminsan smiled confidently.

“Let"s do it! Go, Ifrit!” (Felmina)

       Under the command of its mistress, Ifrit charged at me. I then positioned my palm into the shape of a fan, and swung it towards Ifrit.

*swoooosh*

       The Flame Devil 《Ifrit》 disappeared like a candle light.

“No way…. my special attack…. that easily….” (Felmina)

“That was a really cool magic. Well then, let"s end this quickly!” (Ash)

       I took a stance to launch another fist strike (punch).

“No! I don"t want to let it end like this!” (Felmina)

       Hearing Felminsan"s shout, I immediately canceled my stance.

“Even if you say that…. This is a duel, remember? It won"t end until either one of us goes down.” (Ash)

“I understand that! It"s Ash-kun who doesn"t understand!” (Felmina)

“Me?” (Ash)

“This is a serious duel, but you didn"t take it seriously!” (Felmina)

“I"m taking this seriously though.” (Ash)

“That might be true, but Ash-kun… You"re still holding back your power!” (Felmina)

It"s true that I"m still holding back. However, it doesn"t mean I don"t take Felminsan seriously, I simply feel there"s no need to go all out to defeat her.

“I know Ash-kun is strong! Even far stronger than me! I will definitely lose this duel! I know that, but….” (Felmina)

       Felminsan stopped talking for a moment and then continued on.

“I don"t want to lose like this! Until Ash-kun gets serious, I won"t let this duel end!” (Felmina)

       Having said that, Felminsan started drawing a rune, and a new flame devil was born.

Even though the amount of magical power to cast that spell is enormous, Felminsan has already casted it twice today….

I was surprised by the amount of magical power that Felminsan possessed, but I"m sure it"s not bottomless.

       Felminsan was getting unsteady. It seemed that her magical power almost run dry after casting Flame Devil spell twice.

Magical power has a close relationship with mental power. However, overuse it will put a burden not only on the spirit, but also on the body.

This is exactly what"s happening now. Because overusing her magical power, Felminsan is in a state where she couldn"t even stand upright.

"There"s still moreeeeeeeeeeeeee…." (Felmina)

       Felminsan drew more runes and more flame devils were born. There were five flame devils in total.

“This is…. my seriousness! Now come…. it"s your turn to show me…. your seriousness!!” (Felmina)

       Commanding five flame devils while staggering, Felminsan challenged me to fight her with full power.

“Okay, I will show it to you!” (Ash)

       Seeing her determination, I had no choice but to fight her with my full power. I focused my entire nerve on my fist.

I won"t be holding back anymore. Instead of wind pressure, I will punch her directly with my fist.

I won"t be using a half- hearted punch like when I defeated Demon Lord Darkness Emperor, but I will put my very soul into this punch.

“This is my full power! Eh…?” (Ash)

       Suddenly, all the flame devils disappeared.

I have not done anything though…. No way, did my scream accidentally destroyed them!? Nah, it seems to be different this time….

       Felminsan was lying face down while still holding her magic wand tightly.

I guess she fainted from overusing magical power, and because their mistress lost consciousness, all the flame devils also disappeared.

“That"s it! The winner is Ash Arkvald!” (Erina)

       Erinsensei who went down to the square, signaled the end of the duel after confirming Felminsan"s condition.

“Congratulation, Ash-kun! It"s your win!” (Erina)

“Thank you very much! However, I don"t feel like I"ve won at all….” (Ash)

“How come? It"s your victory no matter how I look at it.” (Erina)

“That might be so, but…. I mean, I won the game but lost the match…. I just learned my spiritual immaturity. In addition, I also feel bad towards Felminsan.” (Ash)

       Erinsensei turned a gentle smile at me.

“You"re such a serious boy. Oh well, don"t worry about it! I"m sure she"s satisfied with this result.” (Erina)

“Why do you think so?” (Ash)

“You will find out soon enough. Well then, please take care of the rest!” (Erina)

       Having said that, Erinsensei left the arena.

What does she mean by I will find out soon enough? Forget it! I cannot afford to leave Felminsan as she is.

       I approached Felminsan.

There is no trauma, but she will catch a cold if I leave her alone. I need to bring her to the infirmary and let her rest on a warm bed.

       I raised Felminsan"s body. That moment, I finally understood the meaning of Erinsensei"s words.

Just before she lost consciousness, Felminsan seemed to have noticed that I was about to attack her will my full power. Even though she lost without tasting it, Felminsan was satisfied with the result.

…. well, those are just my guess though. However, I"m sure it"s not too far from the truth. I mean, Felminsan has such a satisfied smile of her face right now.